Planning a Trip

Visitor Information

The Western Australian Visitor Centre, Albert Facey House, 469 Wellington St. at Forrest Place, Perth (tel. 1300/361 351 in Australia; www.westernaustralia.com), is the official visitor information source for Perth and the state. It's open Monday through Thursday from 8:30am to 6pm (to 5:30pm in winter, May-Aug), Friday from 8:30am to 7pm (to 6pm in winter), Saturday from 9:30am to 4:30pm, and Sunday 12:00 to 4:30pm year-round. The City of Perth's i-City Information Kiosk, in the Murray Street Mall near Forrest Place, is open Monday to Thursday and Saturday 9:30am to 4:30pm, Friday 9:30am to 8pm, and Sunday noon to 4:30pm (closed public holidays).

Volunteers lead free 90-minute guided tours around the city, Monday to Friday at 11am and 2pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 2pm. The morning and Sunday sessions are general city orientation tours, while the other afternoon tours are more heritage-oriented. There's no need to book. Another source of information and maps (plus a free booking service) is Perth Tourist Lounge, Level 2, Carillon Arcade off 207 Murray St. Mall (tel. 08/9481 4400; www.perthtourist.com.au), open Monday through Saturday 9:30am to 4:30pm (closed Sun, public holidays).

For an untouristy lowdown on the city's restaurants, cultural life, shops, bars, nightlife, concerts, and the like, buy the excellent glossy quarterly magazine Scoop (A$9.95/US$7.95/UK£4; www.scoop.com.au), available in bigger newsstands.

City Layout

The city center is 19km (12 miles) upriver from the Indian Ocean, on the north bank of a broad reach of the Swan River. Four long avenues run east-west between riverside parkland and the railway reserve. St. Georges Terrace (it becomes Adelaide Terrace at Victoria Ave.) is the main thoroughfare and commercial and banking address, while Hay Street and Murray Street are the major retail avenues with pedestrian malls in the central blocks. Arcades link all three, plus Wellington Street, which has Perth's suburban railway station on its northern side.

Maps

Of the many free pocket guides to Perth available at tour desks and in hotel lobbies, Your Guide to Perth & Fremantle (Countrywide Publications) has the best street map. It shows one-way streets, public toilets and telephones, taxi stands, post offices, police stations, and street numbers, as well as most attractions and hotels. The Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia is a good source of maps to the state, as is The Perth Map Centre, 900 Hay St. (tel. 08/9322 5733). You will find tourist maps at the Western Australian Visitor Centre and the Perth Tourist Lounge.